KARACHI: In a damning revelation, the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) has uncovered massive financial irregularities worth over Rs836.43 billion across multiple departments of the Sindh Government.
The audit report for the financial year 2023–24, released as part of the 2024–25 audit cycle, points to systemic failures, rampant corruption, mismanagement, and widespread financial misappropriation in provincial institutions.
The AGP report cited severe lapses in financial controls, record-keeping, hiring practices, and procurement procedures, raising serious questions about the governance and fiscal responsibility of key Sindh government departments. It cited non production of record of Rs.97.865 billion, cases of frauds, embezzlement, misappropriation of funds amounting to Rs.1.088billion; irregularities in hiring of employees amounting to Rs.32.122 billion; procurement related irregularities of Rs.55.408bn; financial irregularity of Rs.42.101bn. in management of accounts with commercial banks; irregularities in the head of value for money and service delivery of Rs19.406 billion, operational inefficiency amounting to Rs.494.779 billion; internal control weakness leading to losses amounting to Rs.65.012billion; and irregularities in record keeping and data accuracy amounting to Rs.28.654 billion.
Despite audit-flagged recoveries worth Rs56.53 billion, actual verified recovery stood at a mere Rs785.795 million. The AGP report added that, on current audit paras, the secretary finance and the secretary agriculture have directed to conduct 31 inquiries against the persons responsible for the irregularities and embezzlements. Besides the Public Accounts Committee, Sindh directed the Departmental Accounts Committees to conduct 22 inquiries on issues identified by it and verification of academic degrees of all employees of public sector universities.
Ironically, the Sindh Finance Department—responsible for managing the province’s finances—was found to have committed financial irregularities totaling Rs66.556 billion. These included payments of pensions and General Provident (GP) funds to ineligible individuals, unjustified disbursements of honoraria, arrears, and retirement benefits, recruitment of underage and overage staff, expenditure without proper tenders, unauthorized distribution of pension-related work an other heads. Conclusively, the Sindh Finance Department failed to implement oversight or ensure accountability in its own operations. The Audit report further mentions that, the Sindh Board of Revenue (BoR) was flagged for underperforming on its revenue target by Rs55.187 billion and for inadequate collection of agricultural income tax.
The Sindh Energy Department failed to recover Rs27.867 billion from K-Electric, SEPCO, and HESCO. It also paid out Rs3.314 billion in subsidies to various private power companies without sufficient justification. Furthermore, Rs3.145 billion was paid to distribution companies for electricity beyond usage limits, and Rs2.65 billion was paid for “zero load” connections—raising suspicions of misappropriation.
The Sindh Solar Energy Project, a subsidiary of the Sindh Energy Department, despite a four-year spending of Rs5.294 billion and an extended timeline until July 2025, has yet to complete any of its four components, besides contracts worth Rs2.182 billion were awarded without physical inspections.
According to the report the Health, Education, Irrigation departments also wasted billions of rupees. The Health Department saw irregularities worth Rs62.5 billion—mainly due to suspicious medicine procurement, fake vouchers, and poor service delivery. The School Education Department misappropriated Rs49.2 billion through fraudulent hiring, fake teacher attendance, and construction of non-functional schools. The Irrigation Department was accused of Rs42.9 billion in irregular expenditures due to tender violations and duplicate payments.
The Works and Services Department misused Rs58.4 billion on substandard roads, bridges, and building projects—many of which remain incomplete. Audit authorities highlighted poor planning and flawed execution. The Agriculture Department was found to have embezzled Rs37.6 billion through irregular procurement of seeds, fertilizers, and machinery. The Livestock and Fisheries Department reported Rs28.3 billion in anomalies, particularly in fisheries development schemes. The Home Department had Rs33.1 billion in questionable expenditures, including dual salary disbursements, unauthorized vehicle use, and misuse of police resources.
According to the audit report, the Chief Minister’s Secretariat reportedly paid Rs100 million to the NGO ‘JDC Foundation’ during 2023–24 on directives from then-caretaker chief minister. Additionally, the College Education Department was flagged for an irregular Rs1.5 billion grant to cadet colleges and IBA community colleges without fulfilling required formalities.
The AGP has recommended strict disciplinary action against officials for non-production of records, investigations into embezzlements and misappropriations, strengthening internal audit systems, regular meetings of Departmental Accounts Committees, verification of academic credentials of university employees, strict adherence to Sindh Public Procurement Regulatory Authority rules
A spokesperson for the Sindh government clarified that the audit report comprises preliminary observations and reported irregularities, which are considered part of the standard audit process. “These audit points are routinely reviewed by the respective Departmental Accounts Committees (DACs) and subsequently addressed in the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in accordance with established procedures,” the official stated.
The spokesperson concluded that if any official is found guilty of wrongdoing, the PAC holds the authority to order the recovery of the misappropriated amount and initiate appropriate disciplinary or legal action.
